For as long as Life on the Wrist has been around, triple calendars have been a fascinating complication that has featured on our channel multiple times. We have shown multiple different iterations of this complication from some of the coolest brands out there. This included some beautiful executions from Jaeger LeCoultre, who in terms of vintage watches, executed this complication to perfection.

With that being said, there are multiple brands out there that we have not covered but also competed for wrist time with their potential customers with this exceptional group of complications. One brand we have not covered nearly enough on the channel is Wakmann. And the brand has created beautiful examples of watches that are extremely collectible today.

Before we dive into the watch we have today, let’s go over a bit of history of the brand. The Wakmann Watch Company was founded in 1946 in New York, USA. But before this, the founder, Mr. Wakmann started his watch business in Portugal. He found that there was an unmet need for Swiss watches in the USA and set up his business. Wakmann ended up being appointed as the official producer and deliverer of the US Military during the second World War. Along with watches, the brand produced aviation instruments like cockpit clocks and professional wristwatches.

In 1947, Wakmann began a joint venture with Breitling where they founded Breitling Watch Corporation of America in New York where they delivered Breitling watches to the US market, given the new tax laws of the era that made importing Swiss watches into the USA costly.

Wakmann is very well known for making exceptional quality chronograph watches. Additionally, they are known for great triple calendar chronograph watches, including pieces powered by a very sought after movement, the Valjoux 72. What is less common to see is triple calendar watches that do not have the chronograph complication in it. Luckily, that is what we have today.

These watches are not as common as some of the other vintage Wakmann’s on the market. This Wakmann was manufactured circa 1955, based on when it’s movement was first introduced. There is little documentation about how to date these Wakmann’s so the movement can often be a helpful clue. The watch has a stainless steel case and is in overall good condition, with signs of wear. The case has a three piece construction. The lugs integrate with the mid-case and show signs of polishing, but remain in attractive condition. The lugs also sit fairly large compared to the rest of the case construction, making the piece fit nicely into todays era of watch-wearing.

The watches dial has aged nicely overtime, with even patina. Lightly-toasted, the dial has a beautiful light brown hue to it that takes one back in time. The watch has a full calendar, including the day of the week, month, date, and moonphase indicator at 6 o’clock. In today’s era, these complications likely are not something one will reference a ton, given the advances in technology. But if you are a watch enthusiasts, its the best thing possible.

The date complication is a pointer-date, where the days of the week are around the outside of the dial, and the watch has a red pointer hand that indicates which day it is. The seconds hand is also red, so these two hands stand out distinctly on the dial. It also is a nice contrasts to the quieter blue tons of the date numerals. Moving towards the center of the dial, the watch has a seconds track, and then hour indicators with 3, 6, 9, and 12 being numbers and the other hours having large dots that have aged nicely with time. The month and day of the week have apertures below 12 o’clock. Last but not least, there is a moonphase aperture at 6 o’clock, with a golden, smiling moon and stars painted on a dark blue sky backdrop.

When looking at the watches on the market with these complications, one will often stumble on the ‘big brother’ of the triple calendar, which is the annual calendar. Unlike the triple calendar, the annual calendar will automatically adjust between displaying 30 or 31 days in the month, making it more accurate. While this is functionally more impressive, as a watch enthusiast adjusting the complications can sometimes be the fun, and therefore competitive advantage of the triple calendar over the annual calendar.

The watch runs on a ETA caliber 1100 manual wind movement, modified by Wakmann. This ETA caliber was launched in 1955 and is a 12 lignes movement. It has 42 hours of power reserve and oscillates at 18,000 vibrations per hour. This movement was used by many brands during this time period, and one will often find triple calendar moonphase watches from this era with names you might not have heard of before.

Looking at the markings on the watches case, one will find “stainless steel” stamped on the outside of the caseback. Opening up the watch, the inside caseback is stamped with “Wakmann Watch Co Swiss” as well as what appears to be the serial number and watch reference number, “0151”. This unfortunately did not lead to much research online about this watch, although the triple calendar chronographs definitely are the most common vintage pieces out there.

At 35mm in diameter, the watch fits like many vintage watches from the 50s. The larger, more pronounced lugs do make the watch sit bigger on the wrist. But what truly is most enjoyable is the beauty of the dial. The proportions and balance of the dial and where the complications are located make it very easily to fall in love with the watch. Add some of the aging that one sees throughout the dial and you have a great combination.

Enjoy!